42 Chapter 1 This first theoretical chapter starts with a closer examination of the reality of fragmentation. The first section will be dedicated to Alasdair MacIntyre, from whom I borrowed the term, and to Charles Taylor. Both philosophers became famous for their criticism of modernity and the radical enlightenment. Section 1 first describes their diagnostic (1.1) and then presents an analysis of the consequences of societal and personal fragmentation, linking their thinking to the actual topic of this study (1.2). Next, it evaluates—again with a focus on the topic of this study—the accelerating influence they both ascribed to Protestantism as part of modern Western culture (1.3). Section 2 considers the consequences of fragmentation for education in general (2.1) and schools in particular (2.2). The philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas (1969) helps in this context to take a first step towards an educational answer to them, being education a topic that receives less explicit attention in the works of MacIntyre and Taylor. Epstein et al.’s (2002) theory of overlapping spheres of influence within education helps to take a second step within this context. Another sub-section compares how MacIntyre (1989) and Taylor (1989) handled the important notion of subjectivity, in addition to comparing their conceptions with how the notion functions and ought to function in education and pedagogy (2.3). Section 3 briefly presents elements of the Christian faith and theology that are helpful when it comes to addressing the challenges of fragmentation. The two quotations that open this chapter indicate how Christianity has a strong focus on the reconnection (reconciliation, healing) of fragmented relations. On the level of the individual person, the notion of personhood as communion will be studied (Zizioulas, 2021; 3.1); on the level of society, the notion of heavenly politeuma (Zerbe, 2012; 3.2); and on the level of the world, the notion of relational epistemology (Beech, 2021, 2019, 2022; 3.3). This chapter then ends with a general conclusion that identifies the main challenges for contemporary Christian education that emerge from these theoretical insights. 1.1 MACINTYRE AND TAYLOR: A JOINT CRITIQUE OF MODERNITY Although there are differences between the critical approaches of MacIntyre (2007) and Taylor (1989), more striking and certainly more helpful for this study are the manner and degree to which they correspond in their appreciation of modernity as a fruit of rationalism, the radical enlightenment and its counterpart, romanticism. Indeed, while MacIntyre (2007), in the end, remained
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